Suspected Islamic radicals arrested in U.S.

In the U.S. six suspected Islamic radicals have been arrested for plotting an attack on New Jersey's Fort Dix army base. The men were arrested on Monday while trying to purchase automatic weapons.

The six men arrested, three of whom are brothers, are Mohammed Ibrahim Shnewer, Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar, Agron Abdullahu. They are being described by the U.S. prosecutors as Islamic militants. Federal authorities reported, the group of men were allegedly planning to “kill as many soldiers as possible”.

The group was made up of four former Yugoslavians, a Turk and a Jordanian and included a pizza delivery man suspected of using his job to scout out the military base.

Living just down the road from the army base, three of the accused were in the U.S. illegally, two had permanent green cards and the sixth was a U.S. citizen. The motive is so far unknown, but Fort Dix is synonymous for having housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

FBI officials say the men had been plotting and practicsng for the attack for months, training in the local Poconos Mountains. The mistake that lead to their arrest was a videotape the men brought to a local store to get a DVD copy. On viewing material of the men calling for JIHAD a store employee alerted the authorities and officials started investigating the group.

On Monday the culmination of a sting operation came about when the men were trying to buy automatic weapons from a planted FBI gunseller. A law enforcement officer said the attack was stopped in the planning stages.

There has been no evidence, though, that the men had ties with the international terrorist organisations. The White House says the failed attack was not linked to international terrorism. At the same time, the men are charged with involvement in weapons trading.